Thank you, Pascal, and hello, everyone.
As usual, I will start with our reported P&L. Please turn to Slide 12.
As Pascal has highlighted, total revenue increased by 38% in 2021.
Excluding our COVID-19 vaccine, total revenue increased by 23% in the year.
Our reported operating profit decreased to $1.1 billion in the year with an operating loss in the fourth quarter. The Alexion transaction has impacted our reported numbers as we amortize the purchase intangibles over their economic useful life.
We have also previously mentioned that the inventory Alexion had at the time of the acquisition was valued at fair value in AstraZeneca's books at the closure of the transaction. And this fair value uplift affects reported numbers as cost of goods are sold. In line with previous comments, we anticipate to see this impact to last approximately 18 months post acquisition.
Following the Alexion acquisition towards the end of 2021, we undertook a comprehensive operational review across the rest of the organization, aimed at integrating systems and optimizing our global manufacturing footprint and looking at resource allocation across our portfolio.
As a result of this restructuring, we anticipate incurring onetime costs of approximately $2.1 billion of which approximately $1.4 billion are cash costs and $0.7 billion are noncash costs and capital investments of approximately $200 million. These activities are anticipate to realize run rate pretax benefits before reinvestments of about $1.2 billion by the end of 2025. These costs and the benefits include the previously announced Alexion synergy numbers that remain in line with what we have communicated previously. Consistent with established practice, these restructuring costs will be excluded from our core non-GAAP financial measures. We booked some initial costs relating to this review in Q4 2021, contributing to higher restructuring charges in the quarter, which also impacted the tax rate, which I'll come back to. Please turn to Slide 13. This is our core P&L for Q4 and full year 2021. The gross margin declined by 4.7 percentage points in 2021 versus 2020, negatively impacted by Vaxzevria, our COVID-19 vaccine, the vast majority of which was on a non-for-profit basis.
We have also previously highlighted that we continue to see some downward pressure on our gross margins from the VBP and NRDL programs in China.
In addition, the continued success of our partner medicines, including Lynparza and the profit-sharing arrangements have put additional pressure on the gross margin percentage. This downward pressure has been partly offset by the addition of Alexion whose products have a higher gross margin.
Our core R&D costs of close to $8 billion were just over 20% of total revenue, and this is broadly in line with the steady state we have indicated.
We expect going forward as we remain committed to investing in future growth.
Our core SG&A costs increased by 15% to $11.1 billion. This includes Alexion from end of July 2021 versus AstraZeneca stand-alone 2020, so it is not a like-for-like comparison.
We have continued to invest behind new launches and the recent positive pipeline data has also resulted in some increased launch and prelaunch investments including Saphnelo, Tezspire and Enhertu.
However, we continue to manage our SG&A spend and drive operating leverage in the business, which we defined as growth in revenue exceeding growth in operating expenses.
Our core tax rate was 16.6% in 2021, partly impacted by the nontaxable gain from the Viela divestment, which impacted both the reported and core tax rate for full year 2021.
We also had some reductions in tax liabilities arising from updates to estimates of prior period tax liabilities, following settlements with tax authorities and the expiry of the statutory limitations which impacted both the reported and core tax rate in the fourth quarter. We don't anticipate these one-off items to recur in 2022.
Our full year 2021 core EPS was $5.29.
Our core EPS growth at constant exchange rates for the full year was 37%, implying core EPS on a CER basis above our guidance range of $5.05 to $5.40. Note, that there were some negative FX impact seen during the year, especially in the fourth quarter.
Some of the currencies we're exposed to on the manufacturing side, including British sterling appreciated versus the dollar in fourth quarter 2021 versus fourth quarter 2020, while some of our key revenue currencies depreciated, which contributed to a negative FX impact in the quarter. Note that our guidance is always on a constant exchange rate basis, and we try to provide indication where possible on FX impact. Please turn to Slide 14. Today, we are pleased to announce our full year guidance for 2022.
We expect total revenue to grow by a high teens percentage at constant exchange rates. This includes a full year contribution from the Alexion business and our COVID-19 medicines now a part of our core business following the establishment of our vaccines and immune therapies disease area. Total revenue from the COVID-19 medicines is anticipated to decline by low to mid-20s percentage with an expected decline in the sales of Vaxzevria being partially offset by growth in Evusheld sales. The majority of vaccine revenues in 2022 is expected to come from non-for-profit contracts.
As expected, the gross profit margin from the COVID-19 medicines is expected to be lower than the company average. The ex-COVID gross margin is anticipated to be relatively stable versus last year given the puts and takes previously mentioned.
We will continue to make disciplined investments in order to maximize shareholder value. Core operating expenses are expected to grow by low to mid-teens percentage for the full year 2022. This includes continued investment in our COVID-19 franchise. Core EPS is expected to grow by a mid- to high 20s percentage on a constant exchange rate basis. Based on average January FX rates, we anticipate a low single-digit percentage adverse FX impact on both actual total revenue and core EPS in 2022.
Our core tax rate for 2022 is anticipated to be between 18% and 22%.
As usual, we are anticipating to see both some headwinds and tailwinds over the course of the year.
We continue to see pricing pressure in China and anticipate to see a mid-single-digit percentage decline in revenue in 2022 compared to 2021. The decline in China is expected to be offset by strong growth in ex-China emerging markets and we anticipate a mid-single-digit growth in 2022 across the emerging markets region as a whole.
Our long-term ambition of growing by a high single digit in emerging markets overall remains intact.
In addition, we continue to see impact of COVID-19 on oncology and respiratory diagnosis and treatment rates. There are also pricing dynamics that are impacting some of our medicines that Dave will speak further about.
On the positive side, 2022 will be the first full year of Alexion ownership.
We expect continued strong growth for some of our key medicines, including Farxiga, Tagrisso, Calquence and Enhertu, and we continue to see strong momentum in ex-China emerging markets.
Finally, we're excited about the opportunity of our COVID-19 antibody Evusheld, which offers protection for certain high-risk populations. Please turn to Slide 15.
Our current net debt is $24.3 billion, up from $12.1 billion at the beginning of the year, with the increase relating to the acquisition of Alexion.
Our current net debt to EBITDA is 3.2x.
If you adjust for the Alexion inventory, fair value uplift, our net debt to EBITDA is 2.5x.
Our operating cash flow has improved in line with expectations, and we remain committed to reducing our net debt. It is also worth highlighting that we do have some committed BD-related payments this year, including to Daiichi Sankyo. Also in January 2022, we made the first out of 3 payments to former shareholders of Acerta.
Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged. We're keen to keep a strong investment-grade rating, and we will continue to reinvest in the business.
We will also continue to do value-enhancing business development when we believe it makes sense to do so.
We are pleased to share that the Board has approved a second interim dividend for fiscal year 2021 of $1.97 payable in March 2022. Reflecting increased confidence in future growth and cash generation, the Board intends to increase the annual dividend by $0.10 to $2.90. We intend to continue to balance the annual dividends declared broadly in the ratio of 1/3 as to the first interim dividend payable in September and 2/3 as to the second interim dividend payable in March. With that, I will hand over to Dave to cover Oncology.